


Masquerade

by ArtKirkland23



Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-15
Updated: 2021-02-15
Packaged: 2021-03-17 12:54:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,156
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29472048
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ArtKirkland23/pseuds/ArtKirkland23
Summary: England and Prussia look for each other at a masquerade ball.
Relationships: England/Prussia (Hetalia)
Comments: 6
Kudos: 23





	Masquerade

"What if Arthur doesn't recognise me?"

Lovino pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. "That's the whole point, isn't it? You're the one who wanted to do this."

"The point is to see if he _will,_ " Gilbert emphasised, "without the unique appearance that he's always going on about. A lot of people have given me trouble for it. He does the opposite. Says I look like the fae. I used to think he was mocking me, but after hearing him make a point of describe the fae as beautiful so many times, I think I know what he's getting at."

Lovino slicked back Gilbert's now black hair. "So you wanna know if he'll still know it's you when your hair is different and you're wearing contacts?" Gilbert nodded. "No freaking _duh_ he will. Your grating accent would make my ears bleed on the other side of the ballroom."

"Hey! He loves my voice! I tried serenading him one time and he was so moved he kissed me!"

"Yeah, that was definitely to shut you up."

"It was not! Anyway, I'm not going to be talking...normally," Gilbert began. "I was thinking about disguising my voice, too."

"How and why?"

"It's a masquerade ball! I might as well go all out, right?"

"I mean, I guess? Ya still didn't answer my first question, numbnut."

Gilbert laughed sheepishly.

"That hissing water-sprinkler laugh of yours will give you away for sure."

Gilbert clamped a hand over his mouth, causing his words to come out muffled. "I'll try to be conscious of how I laugh! As for how I talk..." He lowered his arm. I was going to try an Italian accent."

"You've gotta be kidding me."

-

Several silver-haired old men and yet no sign of Gilbert. Arthur had recently finished dancing with the fifth one before deciding he needed a better strategy if he wished to find the other. There was a strong possibility Gilbert had put in contacts, hence why Arthur wasn't dismissing guests if their eyes weren't red, but now it seemed that perhaps he had done more to disguise himself than that alone. It was time to look for something else, something a little harder to change and still easy to notice without dancing together first. Height? Gilbert was roughly two centimetres taller than him, though that could vary depending on shoe type.

Until he could come up with an idea, Arthur figured he ought to keep dancing. It was still a better tactic than to waste the night standing around.

He stepped forward and hand fell on his shoulder. "Hey, you. Want to dance?"

Arthur reached up to adjust his intricately patterned mask before reminding himself that it was tall enough to cover his eyebrows just fine. He turned around and remarked. "A bit impolite to touch a stranger without asking, isn't it?" making sure to insert a Yorkshire accent into his voice so as to strengthen his disguise.

The man's mouth spread into a grin. "With all these masks, who can determine if we're strangers or not?"

"The important part is the very fact that we can't determine it – at least not straight away," Arthur pointed out.

"Maybe some can."

"What? You're convinced you know me?"

"No." The man's mouth twitched.

Arthur sent him a strange look. "Then it's irrelevant, isn't it?"

"Possibly so. By the way, you're being a little impolite, yourself." Before waiting for the confused narrowing of eyes and the 'How so?' that was sure to come, Gilbert continued, "You never answered my question. Want to dance?"

Arthur looked the man over. Smooth, gelled black hair and narrow amber eyes. Strong jaw line, little nose bump. Rough Italian voice. Much paler skin than he was used to seeing on Italians. The man almost resembled a vampire, which was rather humorous considering that Italians often tended to enjoy garlic.

He decided it wouldn't hurt to give this dance a chance.

-

It did, in fact, hurt.

Both men automatically attempted to take the lead, which resulted in a rather unfortunate collision and a chorus of yelps.

"Well, that's not going to work," Gilbert remarked.

Arthur rubbed his head, groaning. "I should have asked. Do you know how to follow or are you only familiar with leading?"

"Whichever is fine with me." Gilbert chuckled inwardly. This reminded him of when he had danced with Arthur in the past. Arthur preferred to lead, but he was willing to take either role in order to instruct someone else. Gilbert didn't mind either, though when in public he assumed others expected him to lead.

After their initial awkward start, they tried again and soon fell into a steady rhythm. It turned out that Arthur's dancing partner was actually quite precise with his steps, almost to the point of being stiff. He couldn't help thinking of a certain someone.

"Do you like dancing?" Arthur wanted to know, observing the other's movements with a watchful eye.

"I used to think it was a waste of time, but it's grown on me! I know when I waltz it probably looks like I'm about to start marching, but I'm making plans to get better than ever so I can impress my, uh..." He and Arthur hadn't really put a specific label on their relationship yet in spite of its romantic nature. They felt no need to rush, being comfortable enough with each other to savour each moment and let it all play out naturally – even if they did get the occasional earful from Lovino or Francis about how much they liked to beat around the bush.

"My significant other," Gilbert finally ventured, smoothing out his suit to make sure everything was in place.

"I'm not going to judge if you say it's a man," Arthur told him, gesturing to them dancing together as he guessed at the reason for his hesitance.

"No, no! It's just, well, it _is_ a man, but I'm not sure what he wants to call us yet." A hopeful pause.

"Has he voiced discomfort with labelling the relationship?" Arthur asked.

"Not...quite, but for a while, he was wary of others getting involved with our business before he was ready. If something didn't go how he hoped, he wanted to deal with it privately. A lot of time has passed, though, and good progress has been made!"

"Then ask."

"Should I? He'll probably tell me when he's ready, right?"

Arthur briefly removed his hand from Gilbert's shoulder and stroked his chin. "Perhaps he isn't sure if you're ready."

"I feel like I make it pretty obvious."

"What is obvious to you may not be obvious to him. There is also the possibility he doesn't frequently think about labels," Arthur suggested.

"That could be! I can tell he cares a lot, even if he doesn't always admit it. And our relationship is awesome whether we call each other boyfriend, significant other, or just a silly nickname!" Gilbert smiled to himself.

Arthur couldn't help smiling back. "I think he would be pleased to hear that."

"That's great!" exclaimed Gilbert. "I mean, that would be great if he was. Anyway...want to go outside? Get some fresh air? Get away from the crowd?"

"That sounds rather nice," Arthur agreed, and so they went out to a balcony overlooking the gardens. "What's your name?" he asked suddenly.

"What?"

"Your name," the Brit repeated. "What is it?"

"It's–it's–" Of all things to forget, why did it have to be this? "It's Vinny," he offered one of Lovino's nicknames, as it was the first to pop into his head.

"Vinny." Gilbert was sure the green eyes in front of him were narrowed in amusement.

"Short for Vincenzo!" he covered himself quickly.

"Right. And I'm...Ernest."

Gilbert suppressed a snort. His own suspicions confirmed, he hazarded, "Worthing?"

"Yes." The utmost seriousness was present in his tone, but Gilbert knew it was a joke. This was just how Arthur's sense of humour worked.

"Mysterious, aren't you! How about you tell me your real name?"

"How about you tell me yours, love?" Arthur leant forwards ever so slightly, the corners of his lips pulled upwards. "Don't worry, I'm sure I won't forget it."

"H-hey, now! You shouldn't flirt with a man who's taken," Gilbert chided with a wag of his finger. "What makes you so sure you won't?"

"Using general terms of endearment doesn't always indicate flirting," claimed Arthur. "And what makes me so sure is that you're quite memorable." The wind ruffled his hair, and when he attempted to smooth it back out, one of the feathers from his mask was set loose.

Gilbert watched it float around for a few seconds before shooting him an incredulous look. "Well, everything else sure contributed to the idea." He didn't notice the feather land on his head, but Arthur did. "And...really?"

The Brit nodded in confirmation, then released a sigh. "You caught me – and you're right. If I flirt with a man who's taken, Gilbird might think badly of me."

"What?? Why would Gilbird–" Gilbert stopped himself, realising his slip, but it didn't make a difference. Arthur had already caught on a while ago.

"He wouldn't. He knows the man I'm flirting with isn't _really_ taken by anyone else. Besides, he loves me – and I love him." Arthur switched the Yorkshire accent out for his usual one and dragged the feather out of Gilbert's hair with feigned confusion, Gilbert staring all the while. "Wait, is this really the one from my mask?"

"What??" The fake Italian accent was now gone as well.

Arthur's face split into a mirthful smirk. "Teasing."

"You..." Gilbert was only able to stare for a few seconds longer before they both broke out into snickers. Gilbert leant against the exterior of the ball and contemplated to himself. He then declared, "You know something? Even if you hide your eyebrows, I can still figure out your identity. That mask doesn't do you much good."

"Neither does yours."

"It doesn't?? What about my hair?"

"Yes, congratulations, you succeeded in making yourself look like vampire."

"Hey...but I put in amber contacts!

"The perfect colour for a vampire trying to blend in with humans, don't you think?" Arthur tittered to himself. "Joking aside, l might have taken a little longer to find you because I was looking for specific colours in the crowd – but your facial structure and your mannerisms were still familiar enough to cause suspicion. Not to mention you approached me."

All of that was nice to know. He didn't stand out to Arthur only because of his albinism. Nevertheless, Gilbert insisted, "I had to! You kept approaching all these old guys!"

"Technically, they're younger than you."

Gilbert waved his hands rapidly. "Shh! Don't tell me what I know!" A pause. "Hey, Arthur?"

"Yes?"

"When are you going to talk about me like you talk about Gilbird?" Arthur blinked at him. "You know...so certain." He clasped his hands together and imitated, "He loves me! And I love him!"

"You thought that part was about Gilbird?"

Gilbert blinked several times. "Wait, was it?"

"Was it?" Arthur repeated oh-so-innocently, pivoting on his heel and strolling back towards the ballroom with a flippant air about him.

Gilbert gawked, then reached out and swiped the mask off his face. "Arthur Kirkland! You get back here right now!"

"Oi, that's mine!" Arthur tried to grab for it, but Gilbert danced away from him. "Come now, it isn't good form to steal one's mask at a masquerade ball."

"It isn't good form to make your significant other wonder whether you love him or his bird," Gilbert countered, then waited expectantly to see if Arthur would protest the title.

He did not, only remarking rather quietly, "Well, both could be a possibility."

"Ohh?" the Prussian piped up happily. "A possibility, hmm?"

"Yes, now if I could have the mask back–"

"You'll have to be more convincing! As of right now, I can't help but to think you're just saying whatever it takes to retrieve this." Gilbert placed Arthur's mask over his own. "Look, now I have double the disguise!"

Arthur rolled his eyes and extended a hand to muss Gilbert's slicked hair. "There, now it's a proper bird's nest again."

"Hey! Your hair's a bird's nest too, y'know–" The second Gilbert's attention was diverted, Arthur snatched his mask back and returned it to his face. This resulted in an immediate pout from Gilbert. "Not fair. That was my leverage! You can't take it already!"

"I love you."

"No, you can't!" Right away, Gilbert protested the 'Yes, I can,' he expected to hear before registering what Arthur actually said. "Wait, what?" He went still.

"A phrase like that isn't very meaningful if you have to use leverage to get it, now is it?"

"I guess not, but forget about that!! Were you saying it for real?"

Arthur gave him a shrug and an enigmatic smile. "Was I, dear?"

**Author's Note:**

> This event motivated me to write my first oneshot that isn't crack!  
> I was in a rush to post this for day 1 of PrUK Week, but hopefully it turned it all right.
> 
> The bit about "Ernest" and "Worthing?" is a reference to The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde. Ernest is a fake name the main character takes on so he can go out and get into mischief without it being attached to his real identity.


End file.
